Police Urged To Reopen Alleged Torture Cases

A group of public officials, police watchdogs, attorneys and citizens urged the Chicago Police Department Monday to open or reopen cases on 38 incidents involving alleged police torture over the last 20 years.

In a letter to Supt. Terry Hillard, Office of Professional Standards director Callie Baird and Chicago Police Board President Demetrius Carney, a delegation led by the watchdog group Citizens Alert asked that OPS investigate the cases of alleged torture, most from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Altogether, 46 people signed the letter.

Many of the cases involve former police Cmdr. Jon Burge, who was fired in 1993 for torturing a suspect in a double-murder investigation, as well as other officers in the old Burnside area.

"Burge is retired now, living on a houseboat in Florida, but many of his colleagues are still on duty," Mary D. Powers, coordinator of Citizens Alert, said during a news conference. "It's an affront to the community and to his victims."

In six cases already investigated by OPS, officers were found to have tortured suspects, but no officers were punished, according to the letter, which cites public records and news reports.

Thirty-two other cases of torture were never investigated, according to the letter, which also was signed by U.S. Reps. Danny Davis and Bobby Rush, both Illinois Democrats. Among these cases is that of Aaron Patterson, a Death Row inmate who's trying to get a new hearing based on charges that police beat a confession out of him.

Also Monday, about a dozen activists gathered in Daley Plaza to demand that the Illinois Supreme Court hear Patterson's case.

"My purpose here is to show my resistance to the state," Patterson's mother, JoAnne, said at the demonstration. "I want a thorough investigation into my son's case."

Patterson's attorney, G. Flint Taylor, said at the earlier news conference that police should be accountable for their actions, even if those actions occurred 20 years ago.

"Police say they want to look forward rather than backward," he said. "We don't see how they can when these brutal practices remain."

Other demands in the letter include an independent investigation into misconduct by OPS and police officials in previous torture investigations and an assurance that all further investigations be conducted in public.